THE NUMERACY PROJECT, as implemented in New Zealand, aims to enhance the numeracy achievement of all students and to foster parental involvement in their children's mathematics learning. This paper reports the findings of a study that took place at a high socioeconomic status primary school in New Zealand with teachers and parents of Years 1 and 2 students. Findings showed that teachers felt more confident in their ability to teach literacy than to teach numeracy. They also believed they were not fully meeting the needs of the lower achievers in mathematics. Partnership with parents in the teaching of reading was well-established but was less apparent in mathematics. Parental involvement was seen to be a dynamic force in the progress of those students who took part in a mathematics intervention program. Results from the mathematics intervention are reported.


In the era of a very rapid development of the whole human life sector, change in land use cannot be avoided, particularly land changes in urban area. Most of the changes occur due to changes in emphasis from social to economic sector. This kind of situation will raise several problems especially in the provision of support¬ing facilities and infrastructure.
This study will discuss about the influence of land changes toward spatial plan, with special reference to the case of Pendrikan Kidul Village, Middle Semarang Distric, Semarang Municipility. The main aim of the study is to obtain a factual description about the influence of land changes towards spatial plans, morphological changes, facilities and infrastructure , and to compre¬hend factors which influence the changes and their pat¬terns, and also for finding out the transfer from social space to become economic space.
With regard to the purpose of this research the objective is to find out problems that occur as a result of changes in land use towards spatial plate by analyzing factors which influence them. Methods of approach on the physical and non-physical changes are perceived from qualitative and quantitative approaches which are gained from statistical analysis utilizing correlation mattri test and crosstab/chi-square tests, based on the data obstained from field research. The essential finding found in the research is that changes in spatial plan from private space into public space and also changes in land use create the transformation from social function into economic function.


Context/objective: To report an association between epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors and ocular side effects. Materials and methods: Collection of spontaneous reports at the National Registry of Drug-Induced Ocular Side Effects (Casey Eye Institute, Portland, Oregon) in conjunction with a literature review of EGFR inhibitors associated with ocular adverse drug reactions (ADR). Results: EGFR inhibitors are associated with conjunctivitis, meibomitis, dry eyes, periocular skin changes and trichomegaly. EGFR inhibitors may also cause superficial punctate corneal changes and corneal erosions. Discussion: This is the first overview of all known ocular side effects associated with the use of marketed EGFR inhibitors. This is also the first effort for this class of drugs using the World Health Organization Classification as to causality. Conclusion: Ophthalmologists should be aware of possible adverse ocular side effects from EGFR inhibitors and treat based on the type of ADR encountered. All ocular side effects noted are fully reversible upon discontinuation of the drug.


Cross-laminated timber, or CLT, is currently receiving attention for its potential use in tall building structures. Timber being a combustible material, one of the main challenges for the construction of these buildings is the potential fire risk that results from its use in the structure. For tall buildings, there is an increased severity of the consequences of structural failure as result of a fire. In order to obtain the desired level of safety, building codes typically require tall buildings to have a high fire resistance rating. The Eurocode recognises the risk associated with failure of the high rise structure and indicates that it is to be designed according to consequences class 3: failure of the structure due to fire is highly undesirable and the structure needs to be reliably safe and robust. The design of tall buildings in consequence class 3 requires a high degree of insight into their structural fire behaviour. An in-depth investigation is needed of risks associated with the fire behaviour, and the structural fire response. In this research the effect of using the combustible material CLT as the main bearing structure is investigated. As a combustible material, unprotected CLT can burn along with the fuel load present in a compartment. Irrespective of its fire resistance rating, it is uncertain whether the structure will be totally consumed in the event of a fire. This can result in collapse of the structure. It is important to understand whether the timber structure continues burning or whether a fire would decay by self-extinguishment, possibly in combination with active fire safety measures such as sprinkler activation or fire-brigade intervention. However, self-extinguishment currently is not part of fire safety considerations for the structural design of tall timber buildings. This master's thesis aims to increase insight into the fire behaviour of unprotected CLT structures in a compartment burnout, conservatively assuming no active measures. The main research question of this work is: "Under what conditions is there a potential for self-extinguishment of cross-laminated timber?" A model of self-extinguishment of CLT was created which consists of various phases of a compartment burnout. Under the influence of an initial fire due to burning of room contents, the exposed CLT becomes involved in flaming combustion. Once the room contents have been largely consumed and the initial fire decays, the CLT contribution is expected to decrease as well, transforming from flaming to smouldering combustion. Finally, there will be a transition from smouldering to self-extinguishment. Two series of experiments were conducted to investigate this model and the conditions under which the transitions can take place. The first series of experiments investigated two conditions at which the CLT can transform from smouldering to self-extinguishment: heat flux on the CLT and the airflow over its surface. This was done by exposing CLT to various heat fluxes and airflows in a cone calorimeter. It was found that smouldering CLT self-extinguishes when the externally applied flux is below 5 to 6 kW/m2. The additional airflow was also found to be of influence. At a heat flux of 6 kW/m2, an airspeed of 0,5 m/s resulted in self-extinguishment, while an airspeed of 1,0 m/s resulted sustained smouldering. It can reasonably be assumed that at a heat flux below 6 kW/m2, the speed of the airflow should be limited to 0,5 m/s. The second series of experiments investigated all phases of the model of self-extinguishment. Small compartments with one, two, or three CLT walls were subjected to a propane fire with a decay phase. Delamination was found to be important in the fire behaviour of the CLT. Delamination occurred when the charring front reached the polyurethane adhesive, which then lost bonding. This resulted in fall-off and exposure of new layer of wood to the fire, which could interfere in the transitions from flaming to smouldering and from smouldering to self-extinguishment. In two experiments, fall-off occurred when temperatures in the compartment were still relatively high. The newly exposed wood contributed rapidly to the fire and flaming was sustained, or smouldering was transformed back to flaming. The CLT in these two experiments continued burning. In two other experiments, fall-off occurred when temperatures in the compartment were lower. As a result, flaming was not sustained. The CLT smouldered and the heat flux on its surface during was below 5 kW/m2; these compartments extinguished. However, relying on fall-off to occur when the compartment has cooled down might be risky due to its unpredictable nature. Alternatively, delamination and fall-off were prevented in a fifth experiment by applying a thicker top lamella. The charring front seized within the thickness of this lamella before it reached the PU adhesive. In all five compartments, the exposed CLT increased the heat release rate and total energy released, and extended the duration of a fire. These were further increased when fall-off resulted in prolonged flaming. Self-extinguishment is currently not part of fire safety considerations for timber high-rises. With further research, self-extinguishment might eventually contribute to a total fire safety concept for tall timber buildings, in addition to active measures. This research extends to translating new insights with regards to self-extinguishment to design and regulatory implications. A suggestion was made for a method to assess the potential for self-extinguishment of CLT structures. The method is based on the experiments and their specific conditions, e.g. with regards to the fire development, fuel load, ventilation conditions, CLT build-up, type of adhesive, wood species, and compartment configuration and scale. It would require further research and verification before the method could be applied in practice. The method consists of two steps. First, a thickness is determined, to be applied to the outer lamella of the CLT in order to prevent delamination. This thickness is based on the calculation of a finite charring depth for a parametric natural fire exposure, taking into account the ventilation conditions and the contribution of the CLT to the fuel load. Second, to allow the transformation to self-extinguishment, the compartment configuration should be such that the heat flux on the CLT surface is limited to 5 kW/m2 during smouldering. This can be achieved by estimating the temperatures of various surfaces and calculating the heat flux on the CLT with the most unfavourable configuration. With regards to building regulations and approval, self-extinguishment might contribute in demonstrating compliance of a timber structure with the Dutch building code. Self-extinguishment, as part of an increased insight in the structural fire behaviour, reduces the probability of collapse as a result of the fire. Despite severe consequences of collapse in a high-rise building, this reduction in probability might contribute in achieving a level of risk and safety as intended by the Dutch building code. Furthermore, an assessment of potential self-extinguishment might be considered in the design of timber buildings according to the Eurocode consequence class 3, which requires a high degree of insight into the structural fire behaviour. Self-extinguishment, as part of an overall fire safety concept, might become part of the risk analysis and the advanced calculations in order to demonstrate the tall timber structure is reliably safe and robust. Finally, new insight can affect the perception of the material and the way it is treated in building regulations and approval. Due to lack of precedents, limited experience, code limitations, and uncertainties regards the performance in fire, there seems to be reluctance to saying tall timber buildings are sufficiently safe. Timber is perceived as a material less suitable for high-rise buildings. More insight into self-extinguishment, its role in a total fire safety concept for tall timber buildings, and its implications on the structural design, could affect this. A more pragmatic approach might be adopted in which any material poses unique design challenges, but can be applied as long as it contributes to safe buildings. While the combustibility of the timber structure will remain a point of attention, its risk should be managed properly, instead of used to discard the material for high-rise buildings. Eventually, insight in the structural fire behaviour of timber structures, including potential self-extinguishment, could contribute to making timber available as a material for high-rise buildings.


This paper proposes a self-supervised latent space clustering algorithm, called the Deep Latent Space Clustering, for the detection of stealthy false data injection attacks (FDIAs) in smart grids against state estimation algorithms. The stealthy FDI model considered is based on the accurate AC state estimation and is able to bypass conventional bad data detection (BDD) algorithms with ease. The key element of the detection model is a stacked autoencoder network that first undergoes a carefully designed two-step finetuning process, following which a trainable clustering head is stacked on top of the finetuned encoder and the final network is further trained to achieve a clean clustering of the data into benign and compromised samples without labelled supervision. To test the efficacy and scalability of the detection model, it is tested on the standard IEEE 14 bus, 118 bus and 300 bus test systems. The self-supervised clustering model is compared to several supervised, semi-supervised and unsupervised algorithms proposed in the literature for detection of FDI on the aforementioned test cases and has been found to perform at par with the state of the art among them.


Feeding in the pond snail (Lymnaea stagnalis) is heavily regulated by modulatory neurons throughout the brain. Following appetitive conditioning many of these identified neurons show changes in electrophysiological properties that contribute to the conditioned feeding response. The aim of this thesis was to further characterise modulatory feeding neurons and the neural plasticity that occurs within them during appetitive memory consolidation.
Previous research had shown that the cerebral giant cell (CGC) is persistently depolarised 16-24 hours following appetitive conditioning and onwards. A Hodgkin-Huxley model of the CGC predicted this nonsynaptic plasticity to occur via an increase in the maximum conductance of the persistent sodium current (INaP), delayed rectifier current (IK) and high voltage activated calcium current (IHVA). To test this hypothesis these three modelled conductances were introduced into the membrane of the CGC of untrained snails, using dynamic clamp. Little effect on electrophysiological properties was initially seen due to an unexpectedly large cell surface area. To correct for this underestimation the response of the membrane to sine wave current injection was used to calculate the total cell surface area prior to dynamic clamp. When correctly scaled conductances were applied to the cell, there was still no significant change in the resting membrane potential (RMP). This suggests that the changes in ionic conductances causing CGC nonsynaptic plasticity during long term memory are more complex than previously realised and may involve other membrane conductances. A simpler attempt to depolarise the CGC with pattern clamp was able to cause significant RMP depolarisation, but also led to ectopic spike initiation in the proximal axon.
Sub-optimal classical conditioning of Lymnaea with dilute sucrose (US) results in memory expression which is temporarily undetectable both at 30 minutes and 2 hours after training. The neural mechanisms involved during these memory lapses are unknown. Therefore, two key modulatory neurons, the CGC and the pleural buccal interneuron (PlB) were recorded during lapse and non-lapse time points after sub-optimal conditioning. These neurons were targeted as they can upregulate and downregulate the entire feeding system, and modulatory cells have previously been shown to play a role in memory consolidation. When conditioned preparations were compared to unconditioned preparations there was no significant difference in spontaneous firing frequency or CS-induced firing frequency in the CGC or PlB. This suggests that neither of these identified modulatory neurons play a role at 1 hr (non-lapse), 2 hr (lapse), and 3 hr (non-lapse) following sub-optimal appetitive conditioning.
To better understand the neural mechanisms of appetitive memory storage it is also important to characterise the feeding network. Particularly little is known about the control of the modulatory feeding neurons which project to the buccal ganglia, where the feeding CPG and motoneurons are located. Therefore, a search was made for a neuron presynaptic to modulatory projection cells. Such a cell was identified in the parietal ganglion and was termed parietal dorsal 4 (PD4). Intracellular dye filling revealed an expansive morphology with a large axon projecting through the pleural ganglion, cerebral ganglion, and lastly the buccal ganglion. The axon was also seen to branch extensively and cross both the cerebral and buccal commissure. Furthermore, a peripheral projection was observed from a nerve of the visceral ganglion. This extensive morphology makes this neuron an ideal candidate to regulate control of the feeding system as a whole. When artificially activated by depolarisation PD4 caused monosynaptic excitation of both the ipsilateral and contralateral CGC. Delayed excitation was also observed on the ipsilateral CV1a and inhibition on the ipsilateral PlB. However, no direct connection was found between PD4 and identified dorsal buccal feeding neurons. Depolarisation of PD4 could occasionally cause feeding cycles to occur but could also inhibit spontaneous fictive feeding. This differential effect is likely due to polysynaptic depolarisation of the inhibitory CPG neuron N3t, which becomes dominant when there are high frequency action potentials in the CGC. In a semi-intact preparation PD4 did not respond to sucrose applied to the lips, demonstrating it is not involved in the unconditioned feeding response. PD4 was depolarised to threshold by extracellular stimulation of multiple nerves including the lip, tentacle, anal/intestinal and parietal nerves. Activation of PD4 also caused inhibition of the caudodorsal cells (CDCs) and excitation of the ring neuron (RN), suggesting that the neuron may be involved in controlling modulation of the feeding network during egg laying behaviour.
In summary, this thesis examines important conceptual gaps in the understanding of appetitive memory consolidation in Lymnaea. It also provides the characterisation of an entirely new cell with widespread influence over the feeding system.


Camera-captured document images often contain curled textlines because of geometric and perspective distortions. Finding curled textlines, which is more difficult than straight textline detection, is a primary step in the processing of hand-held camera-captured document images. Detected textlines results can be used for dewarping of warped images, layout-analysis, etc. In this paper, we compare previously reported curled textline segmentation techniques by using the publicly available CBDAR 2007 dewarping contest dataset and vectorial performance evaluation metrics.


In today's world, everything from small needle to airplane engineering is surrounded by embedded systems. Embedded System technology not only lays foundation for development but is also acting as Backbone for mankind in almost in every area of science, engineering, research and daily living. The world of embedded systems is mainly surrounded by: Microcontrollers and Microprocessor's. To work in the area of Embedded Systems design and development is both interesting and challenging- Interesting in the sense, as everything is getting intelligent, advanced and feature rich day by day and the embedded system's field is progressing by leaps and bounds. But challenging in the way, that resources are very limited in terms of design and implementation. The most important crucial challenges nowadays in front of embedded system engineers are- Which programmer to Use ? Which compiler to use for source code development ? Which simulator to use to simulate the overall behavior of system ? As every compiler, programmer and simulator has distinct features, so selecting the best one as per one's requirement has always remained a challenge. The main aim of this research paper is to overcome that difficulty by providing the researchers and embedded system engineers an encyclopedic platform of compilers, programmers and simulators for all sorts of embedded system technologies like 8051, PIC, ARM, AVR and Arduino so that choosing of the best platform in terms of compiler, programmer and simulator can become easy and time saving for everyone working in this area. Full Text: PDF


The face of migration in and from Ethiopia has been changing, from large refugee flows in the 1980s and 1990s to different forms of labour migration in the present decade as people seek employment opportunities abroad. The large refugee flows from the 1980s and 1990s have led to the emergence of the Ethiopian Diaspora that now numbers approximately one million people living abroad. At present, highly skilled emigration remains a challenge as doctors increasingly migrate to better off African countries such as Botswana and South Africa, but the majority of flows are now characterized by low skilled migration. The changing nature of migration in Ethiopia has led to changing mandates in migration for government institutions, international organizations, unions and NGOs. This policy brief will provide an outline of the roles and responsibilities of different organizations with regards to migration in Ethiopia. The information in this policy brief is based on interviews conducted with these organizations in November 2010.


Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the most leading cause of death worldwide. Risk factors of CHD include high blood pressure, smoking, obesity, diabetes, lack of exercise, poor diet, high blood triglycerides, cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (serum LDL), family history, hypertension and depression. Most previous investigations including biochemical as well as molecular markers were successfully predicted CHD. Studies indicated the importance and the benefits of lowering cholesterol and triglyceride blood levels to decrease the risk for developing cardiovascular disease. The present article aimed to discuss and identify nonconventional cardiovascular bio-markers as well as biochemical risk factors in early prediction of CHD.


This paper develops a psychologically micro-founded model of economic learning. Contrary to intuition, it is shown that a large population of boundedly rational learners will, under certain circumstances, aggregate to a fully rational representative agent, even when no individual solves—or even considers—the entire inference problem on their own. The theory places conditions on the emergence of aggregately rationality and characterizes the information-processing frictions that arise when those conditions are not met. This economic implications of the model are developed in the context of a market for Arrow securities, where it is shown that market efficiency depends on the ability of prices to combine the information-processing capacity of many agents.


Purpose: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are widely used in the general population, and regular NSAID use is associated with improved survival among colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. We examined the association of NSAID use prior to, and after, diagnosis in relation to CRC-specific and overall survival. Methods: Study subjects were incident, invasive CRC cases from the population-based Seattle Colon Cancer Family Registry. Eligible cases were 20–74 years of age, diagnosed from 1997 to 2008, and identified from the Puget Sound Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Registry. NSAID use two years prior to the interview date ("pre-diagnosis period") was collected by telephone interview at study enrollment an average of eight months after diagnosis. A follow-up questionnaire was administered approximately five years after the cases' CRC diagnosis ("post-diagnosis period"). Regular NSAID use was defined as having taken aspirin or ibuprofen at least twice per week for more than a month. Follow-up for survival and cause of death was completed through linkage to the National Death Index. Cox proportional hazard regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for associations of pre- and post-diagnostic NSAID use, and initiation, continuation and discontinuation of NSAIDs between pre- and post-diagnostic periods with survival after CRC diagnosis. Results: Compared to never users, regular NSAID use after diagnosis was associated with better overall survival (HR = 0.69, 95% CI, 0.54–0.89) and CRC-specific survival (HR = 0.48, 95% CI, 0.29–0.80). Among people who survived five years after diagnosis, both overall and CRC-specific survival were better for patients who initiated NSAID use post-diagnosis compared to never users, with HRs (95% CI) of 0.70 (0.51–0.95) and 0.43 (0.23–0.82), respectively. HR estimates were stronger for CRC-specific survival among those with non-advanced (local and regional) CRC (HR = 0.38, 95% CI, 0.18–0.77). Conclusion: Our results suggest that among long-term CRC survivors, regular use of NSAID after CRC diagnosis, including when initiated after diagnosis, is significantly associated with longer CRC-specific survival. This association is more pronounced for patients with non-advanced CRC.


Abstract An enduring theme in US politics is tension between people on the right who favour limited government that serves individual and elite interests and people on the left who prefer active government with emphasis on a broader public interest. Recently, the political landscape has shifted from the dominant ideology of neoliberalism toward a far-right authoritarian populism with parallels to mid-20th century fascism. This shift appears in regressive societal characteristics - such as xenophobia, racism, homophobia, and misogyny - that were thought to have diminished in an increasingly progressive 21 st century. An argument can be made that authoritarian populism is a continuation of longstanding patterns of elite influence, in which regressive elements serve as techniques to distract the public from the governing economic agenda. The essay examines this phenomenon and explores potential future effects on US society.


A multistage low specific-speed diffuser pump was designed to achieve very good hydraulic performance with a newly designed integrated diffuser, crossover and return guide vane. The diffuser was designed using a continuous crossover design. The design space of this diffuser was limited because of the usage of a mechanical pump design from a similar existing pump. This paper presents the simulation-based design of this new pump and the role that simulation can play in the manufacturing process.
 A new diffuser has been designed to obtain optimum efficiency and to ensure that the pump will operate most of its time very close its best efficiency point. The new diffuser was designed using an approach where the diffuser vane was stretched to completely cover the area starting just behind the impeller trailing edge towards the eye of the next stage impeller. This means that the diffuser vanes should now convert velocity into pressure, guide the fluid to the next stage impeller eye while reducing the swirl and uniformizing the flow. The shape of the diffuser has been optimized using response surfaces that were created using Computation Fluid Dynamics (CFD). This way, a diffuser with a minimum amount of losses was obtained, due to smooth and gradual area changes of the waterway.
 The final design incorporating this diffuser was analyzed using steady-state CFD to create the full performance curve. The design was transferred into a real physical product by manufacturing it. The resulting casting of the diffuser component was scanned using a 3D scanner. The 3D model of the scan was used to make a comparison using CFD between the performance of the designed and the manufactured diffuser. This provided understanding in how deviations due to the manufacturing process influence the performance. Finally, the complete pump underwent a performance test and its results closely matched the performance as calculated using CFD.


SOMMARIO: 1. Dalla bioetica alla biogiuridica. - 2. Etica e diritto. - 3. Profili di diritto ecclesiastico nella dimensione bioetica. - 4. Questioni bioetiche e valori costituzionali.
Juridical horizons of the bioethical dimension
Abstract: In his broad cultural, legal and academic experience, Giuseppe Dalla Torre has also dealt with issues relating to bioethics and biolaw. His thought contribution on the subject has proved to be of great scientific importance both because from a temporal point of view he was one of the first Italian jurists to take an interest in bioethics; and because he has indicated criteria and solutions that have profoundly crossed the dynamics characterizing the debate and studies of the bioethical phenomenon in Italy. The paper intends to testify to the continuing relevance of the fundamental contents of his teaching in the bioethical sector, highlighting that they have accompanied the evolution of Italian biolaw from the very first steps.


In the present work, the modeling capabilities of conformal geometric algebra (CGA) are harnessed to approach typical problems from the research field of 3D-vision. This increasingly popular methodology is then extended in a new fashion by the integration of a least squares technique into the framework of CGA. Specifically, choosing the linear Gauss-Helmert model as the basis, the most general variant of least squares adjustment can be brought into operation. The result is a new versatile parameter estimation, termed GH-method, that reconciles two different mathematical areas, that is algebra and stochastics, under the umbrella of geometry. The main concern of the thesis is to show up the advantages inhering with this combination.

Monocular pose estimation, from the subject 3D-vision, is the applicational focus of this thesis; given a picture of a scene, position and orientation of the image capturing vision system with respect to an external coordinate system define the pose. The developed parameter estimation technique is applied to different variants of this problem. Parameters are encoded by the algebra elements, called multivectors. They can be geometric objects as a circle, geometric operators as a rotation or likewise the pose. In the conducted pose experiments, observations are image pixels with associated uncertainties. The high accuracy achieved throughout all experiments confirms the competitiveness of the proposed estimation technique.

Central to this work is also the consideration of omnidirectional vision using a paracatadioptric imaging sensor. It is demonstrated that CGA provides the ideal framework to model the related image formation. Two variants of the perspective pose estimation problem are adapted to the omnidirectional case. A new formalization of the epipolar geometry of two images in terms of CGA is developed, from which new insights into the structures behind the essential and the fundamental matrix, respectively, are drawn. Renowned standard approaches are shown to implicitly make use of CGA. Finally, an invocation of the GH-method for estimating epipoles is presented. Experimental results substantiate the goodness of this approach.

Next to the detailed elucidations on parameter estimation, this text also gives a comprehensive introduction to geometric algebra, its tensor representation, the conformal space and the respective conformal geometric algebra. A valuable contribution is especially the analytic investigation into the geometric capabilities of CGA.


ABSTRACT How do artists, scientists and artist-scientists view images, and how does their cultural background affect their interpretation? The author proposes that artist-scientists may exhibit cultural multistability, akin to the perceptual multistability associated with viewing visual illusions such as the Necker cube. After carrying out a survey, the author suggests that all individuals may exhibit cultural multistability in response to a challenging image. The author postulates a tendency of artist-scientists to use textural descriptions and discusses coming to see her own images in a new light.


Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Ethiopia. We describe the performance of the Xpert-MTB/RIF assay for presumptive TB in health facilities that refer samples to a regional reference laboratory.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in patients with presumptive TB from 1st April 2015 to 30th August 2016. The study was performed in Gambo Hospital, Ethiopia. The samples sent to the referral laboratory were analyzed according to national protocols on the diagnosis of TB and multidrug resistant-TB in children with presumptive TB.
Results: We studied one sample each from 309 unique patients; 197 (63.8%) were less than 14 years old, and 165 (53.4%) were male. The most commonly analyzed sample was gastric aspiration (n=144, 46.6%) followed by sputum (n=92, 29.8%). Gastric aspiration was performed mainly in children (98.6%, 142/144; p<0.001), while peritoneal effusion (94.4%, 17/18; p<0.001), pleural effusion (80.8%, 21/26; p<0.001), lymph node (63.6%, 14/22; p=0.01), and sputum (56/92, 60.9%; p<0.001) were performed mainly in adults. For 10 samples, the results were not available from the referral laboratory. The samples were positive for TB by Xpert MTB/RIF in 22.4% (67/299) of the samples. Only one sample was resistant to rifampicin (0.3%). The results of Xpert MTB/RIF were positive in 76.2% (16/21) of the lymph node samples (p<0.001), 22.3% of the gastric aspiration samples, 20.0% (31/139) of the sputum samples, 1.5% (1/17) of the ascites fluid samples, and 0.0% (0/25) of the pleural effusions (p=0.002).
Conclusion: Xpert MTB/RIF facilitates the diagnosis of TB, with microbiological confirmation, in up to 20% of the samples.


The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the Caribbean Basin Trade Protection
Act (CBTPA) of the USA are trade preference programmes offering reduced tariffs to African
countries. We investigate the impact of the preferences on the exports of the recipients in this
thesis. Using annual data on mirror exports, macroeconomic, social, cultural and religious variables,
we evaluate the impact of the preferences in three different ways—(1) difference-in-differences,
(2) quantile and (3) matching estimators. As part of our review of the empirical evidence, we
conduct a meta-analysis to summarise the quantitative AGOA literature. This is augmented with a
meta-regression to investigate the presence of publication bias. In chapter 3, the first of the three
empirical chapters, the question asked is, "has there been an observed increase in the exports of
AGOA and CBTPA recipients to the USA compared to their exports to the rest of the world?"
The identification of the impact consists of modelling the selection in exporting that occurs and
accounting for the zero trade occurring at the HS-6 digit level of disaggregation. One result is that,
the impact of the preference varies with the level of product aggregation.

The two remaining chapters focus on the AGOA preference and is identified due to the exogenous
provision of the preference. Chapter 4 adopts a matching approach while chapter 5 is based
on a quantile regression. The matching estimates providing the mean impacts are negative for
exports to the USA compared to the counter-factual. In Chapter 5, we show that, the impact of
the preference on the recipients is unequal—oil exporters are the largest gainers. We decompose
the impact by using the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition found in Machado and Mata (2005) for
quantile regressions. We find that, the gains to AGOA recipients are confined to the top half of the
export distribution—implying that the gains from AGOA are unequal and thus heterogeneous in
their impact on the recipients.


The objective of the present work was to study the lobus frontalis in postmortem human brains in order to obtain weight as well as superficial and deep cortex values of the lobus and its gyri and quantitative ratios among these values. Twelve brains obtained from right-handed subjects aged between 30 and 55 years having no visible macroscopic neurologic lesions were fixed in formaldehyde (5%) and processed using a method developed in our laboratory (Arch. Neurol., 46:307; 1989). Absolute and percent values, as well as weight/cortical surface ratios and correlations of the gyri of the lobus frontalis - regio orbitalis, cinguli, superior+medium, inferior and precentralis - were obtained. The cortical surface of the right gyrus cinguli is significantly larger than the contralateral one. The statistically lower weight/cortical surface ratio corresponds to the regio orbitalis and the higher one to the gyrus precentralis. The regio orbitalis supplies a higher percentage in cortical surface than in weight to its respective lobus frontalis; the opposite occurs with the gyrus precentralis. The right gyrus cinguli supplies a higher percentage in weight than in cortical surface than the left one. The Pearson coefficient of correlation between the values (absolute and percent) corresponding to weight and cortical surface between homologous gyri of both hemispheres are positive.The correlations between weight absolute as well as percent values and those of the respective cortical surface are positive, excellent and highly significant. The higher percentage of cases with right laterality corresponds to the gyrus cinguli and that with left laterality to the gyrus frontalis inferior. Modifications that could occur in brains from psychiatric and neurologic patients could alter some of these values and relationships, as for example in schizophrenia in which we found an inversion of the gyrus cinguli anterior laterality (ALBANSE et al., 1995)


Inverse determination of the temperature distribution in the interior of a solid has been an area of interest in recent years. Conventional measurement devices, such as thermocouples or pyrometers, cannot be used to determine the interior temperature, but they can be used to determine the surface temperature. From this surface temperature, the temperature distribution in the interior can be estimated using an inverse method. If the maximum temperature is more than melting point of material then it may result in catastrophic accidents for some particular applications like nuclear fuel rods. Thus, knowledge of the temperature distribution on the interior is important.In this paper, numerical solution approach involving finite volume method along with MATLAB Optimization Toolbox is used to determine the temperature distribution in the interior of a solid object.Copyright © 2015 by ASME


Community-supported fisheries (CSF) projects show signs of rapid growth. Modeled on community-supported agriculture (CSA) projects, CSFs share objectives of reducing social and physical distance between consumers and producers and re-embedding food systems in social and environmental contexts. This article offers a comparison of CSF and CSA, situated in the differences between seafood and agricultural products, and fishing and farming. We draw on economic and resource theory, past research on CSA, and a member survey from a case study CSF. Survey results show CSF members are interested in accessing high-quality, fresh, local seafood, and in supporting fishing communities, and they believe that participating in a CSF achieves both. They are less certain that a CSF can address environmental concerns, and few identify environmental motives as their primary reason for participating. The latter contrasts with CSA research results, and we contextualize these findings in our broader comparison.


Retrospective study in different ethnic groups determines the burden and patterns of prostate cancer during the last eight years reported in Oncology wards of hospitals of Karachi, Pakistan. Compares the management pharmacotherapy/chemotherapy/surgery with international guidelines, develops strategies for screening and evidence based pharmacotherapy/chemotherapy/surgery of cases. Every single one male case with histologically and cytologically established prostate cancer was enrolled from January 2003 to December 2010. Data for all patients were collected retrospectively by patient's file & charts, which represents the population of Karachi, Interior Sindh & Balochistan. 72 male patients investigated for their diagnosis of cancer type, ethnicity, age & gender. The statistical analysis was performed for mean, standard error & proportions. Screening, Pharmacotherapy/Chemotherapy/Surgery employed by the hospitals was compared with international guidelines and evidences. Proportionately major ethnic groups male diagnosed with prostate cancer in total male cases of prostate cancer was Sindhi (43%), Urdu Speaking/Immigrants (24%), Baloch (10%), Pukhtoon (8%), Punjabi (7%), Minorities & others (8%). Mean age at the time of diagnosis was 65.44±10.89 years, SE± 0.227 and RSD 34%. Screening strategies are implemented in <10% targeted population, however pharmacotherapy/chemotherapy/surgery was comparable with international guidelines. The study reveals that prostate cancer incidences are highest among Sindhi Speaking and then Urdu Speakings. Rests of the ethnic groups are in the range of 7-10%. There is a need to implement the screening strategies more extensively to the small/basic/rural health care centers for early diagnosis of the disease and new treatments strategies especially in surgical management like application of cryosurgery, high intensity ultrasound and proton beam radiation therapy are making revolution in the management of prostate cancer.


Abstract. For a reliable and robust moving object detection, the subtraction of a precisely modeled background is crucial in wide-area motion imagery (WAMI). Even the most successful background subtraction algorithms that are designed to model highly-dynamic environments cannot cope with rapidly changing scenery, such as moving cloud shadows, which has different characteristics from dynamic textures. This paper presents a novel method to detect moving objects and to eliminate false alarms under moving cloud shadow regions in gray-level video sequences. The proposed method uses the relation between reflectance values of the shadowed and well-illuminated sequences of the regions in the video frame. A modified adaptive region growing approach, which extends from seed points, is designed to obtain the moving parts of the cloud shadows without presuming the geometric structure of the clouds. In order to determine the moving border of the cloud shadows, where false alarms typically occur, the cloud shadow motion should be detected. As the last stage of the proposed method, real moving objects in the scene are tried to be discriminated from false alarms by exploiting the relation of intensity ratios between the object candidate and its surroundings. The accuracy and computational efficiency of the proposed approach make it a reliable and feasible approach to be used in real-time surveillance solutions.


The effect of pouring temperature while preparing Aluminium SiC metal matrix composites, with additional benefits of magnesium and copper through stir casting technique were investigated. The composites were fabricated by mixing 12 wt% of SiC reinforcements,4 wt% magnesium and 2 wt% copper into 6061 aluminium alloy melt at different pouring temperatures (630 ºC, 670 ºC and 710ºC). The addition of magnesium will enhance the wettability of the SiC particles with Al matrix. The inclusion of copper has considerable improvement in strength and hardness of the composite. The microstructure and mechanical properties (tensile strength and hardness) of the Al MMC are evaluated with the corresponding processing parameter, specifically pouring temperature of the cast composite.The metallurgical characterization utilizing optical and scanning electron microscope were observed for the prepared composites. The coarse microstructure and homogenous distribution of SiC particles were appeared within dendrite structures of the composites. The SiC particles has effectively distributed, and higher tensile strength and maximum hardness have occurred in composite at pouring temperature of 670ºC as compared to other composites. The mechanical properties were lower in composites prepared using lesser pouring temperature (630ºC) and significantly decreased for higher pouring temperature (710ºC) of the composites.


Portugal has a rich tradition in establishing the democracy. This tradition dates back to the 19th century and first Portuguese Constitution which was adopted in 1822. The Constitution, founded on the liberal principles, on the one hand referred to the experiences of the leading countries, which became constitutional models in Europe, and on the other, referred to the constitutional concepts characteristic of Portugal itself. Special importance should be attributed to the "Lei da Boa Razao" Act (Act on the principle of equity), adopted in 1769, during the kingship of Joseph I and reign of his prime minister marquis de Pombala. According to its provisions, equity has become a criterion in recognizing the validity of legal norms. The new law initiated a reform of the sources of law and was essential for the formation of the liberal state. In particular, it allowed to establish a "universal public law", as it ordered the application of the law of "Christian, civilized and political nations" in "modern" fields, i.e. economy, trade and shipping. This law consolidated a trend to create law in writing and of general application. It also strengthened importance of the national law. Though, as the Portuguese law regulated family relationships only fragmentarily, and as "Lei da Boa Razao" was very vague, the application of law was left to the judges, who had to take into account the so-called subsidiary law. In consequence, the role of judges was particularly important. The same applies to the role of the doctrine. Although, the Constitution of Portugal from 1822 did not regulate the issue of the sources of law, it introduced the principle of subordination of the judges to the Constitution and the Law. The term Constitution involved in this case not only the Constitution itself but also sources of law, which were applicable by virtue of "Lei da Boa Razao" and findings established by doctrine of the civil law and public law. Constitution did not provide any remedy that would serve the judges to reject the law, when it would be in contradiction to the constitutional norm. Control of constitutionality in the modern sense has been established in Portugal eventually by the Constitution in 1911. It was a model of judicial review. Sources of law in Portugal, "Lei da Boa Razao", Constitution from 1822, judicial review in Portugal.


The complex molecular biology involved in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) progressive disease led to a growing urgency and interest in developing new strategies to overcome TKI resistance. In this study, we have used Next generation sequencing data and several bioinformatics approaches to investigate the GITS infiltrating immune-cell subpopulations and to perform an integrated molecular characterization of D842V mutant GIST, with the aim evaluating the potential of an anti-PD-L1 treatment in combination with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) and to identify new possible target. Gene expression profile and immunohistochemistry (IHC) of a cohort of 31 GIST KIT and PDGFRA mutated supported the presence of immune infiltrate in GIST, with dominance of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and M2 macrophages showing a remarkable similarity with melanoma microenvironment. The expanded IFN-γ-induced immune signature (EIIS) genes were expressed in most of GIST samples and positively correlated with PD-L1 abundance (p < .0001). Moreover, the median TIS score for GIST was between the 65th and 70th percentile of the Cancer Genome Atlas dataset, in the same range of tumors responding to anti-PD-1/PD-L1. Analysis of the Gene Expression Omnibus database GIST samples pre- and post-treatment confirmed that imatinib downregulates PD-L1 and IRF1 expression through the inhibition of KIT and PDGFRA, thus contributing to counteract the suppressed adaptive immune response against GIST. The presence of a rich immune infiltrate in GIST along with the presence of TIS and EIIS suggests that GIST may benefit from immunotherapy along with tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Analysis of whole exome sequencing data of 19 D842V mutant GIST samples did not show any actionable recurrent molecular events, beyond D842V, of therapeutic significance. Molecular modeling however, suggests that the D842V mutant protein binds imatinib with lower affinity with respect to wild-type structure, showing higher stability during the interaction with other type I TKIs (like crenolanib).


Abstract Religious plurality has implications for religious organisations active within the public realm. Using semi-structured interviews, I examine how Christians and Christian organisations are framing faith discourses so that they resonate with religiously neutral discourses dominant in the public sphere. There are indications of a shift towards the use of profane terms instead of sacred terms to explain aspects of the Christian faith and Christian teachings of love, compassion, and belonging are amplified to counter criticisms that Christianity is a threat to liberal rights and beliefs. This article conceptualises these discourses as two social action frames: the 'Love Frame' and the 'Inclusivity Frame'. I do not refute claims that the social significance of religion is declining but argue that Christians and Christian organisations are working within the confines of secular discourses to disseminate their messages in order to build credibility as egalitarian public service providers.


REQUIRED) The sports industry is bringing in global revenues of $620 billion yearly. It is one of the fastest growing industries and it has increased its use of technology. From video challenges, to online ticket sales, and broadcasting, the sports industry is using technology in many areas. Coaches use technology and information systems to gather data about current athletes and prospects. Coaches gather useful data, but this data is often raw and difficult to use for decision-making. Decision support systems have been successfully used by other industries to improve business profitability and to aid in making decisions that are crucial for success. While some areas of sports information systems have implemented decision support systems, there is room for more growth. This paper calls for further research of decision support systems for recruiting athletes for a collegiate team, as this could lead to multiple benefits for the team and the academic institution. The call for research is to design a system that includes knowledge of the end users and stays within the regulations set by the National Collegiate Athletics Association.


Intrauterine infection and inflammation are known risk factors for brain damage in the neonate irrespective of the gestational age. Infection‐induced maternal immune activation leads to a fetal inflammatory response mediated by cytokines that has been implicated in the development of not only periventricular leukomalacia and cerebral palsy but also a spectrum of neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and schizophrenia (Behav Brain Res 2009; 204:313, Ann Neurol 2005; 57:67, Am J Obstet Gynecol 2000; 182:675). A common link among the neurobehavioral disorders associated with intrauterine inflammation appears to be the evidence for immune dysregulation in the developing brain (Behav Brain Res 2009; 204:313). The timing of the immune challenge with respect to the gestational age and neurologic development of the fetus may be crucial in the elicited response (J Neurosci 2006; 26:4752). Studies involving animal models of maternal inflammation serve a key role in elucidation of mechanisms involved in fetal brain injury associated with exposure to the maternal milieu. These animal models have been shown to result in fetal microglial activation, neurotoxicity as well motor deficits and behavioral abnormalities in the offspring (J Neurosci 2006; 26:4752, J Neurosci Res 2010; 88:172, Am J Obstet Gynecol 2009; 201:279, Am J Obstet Gynecol 2008; 199:651). A better understanding of the mechanisms of perinatal brain injury will allow discoveries of novel neuroprotective agents, better outcomes following preterm birth and stratification of fetuses and neonates for therapies in cases of preterm birth, preterm premature rupture of membranes, and chorioamnionitis.


Growing numbers of children and adolescents have long-term disabilities. Research on the epidemiology, clinical care and its improvement, organization, and financing of care for children with disabilities is very limited. Given the cost burden of the nation's chronic diseases and disabilities, the lack of investigation into necessary clinical activities seems remarkable. This article reviews recent research on health services relating to children and adolescents with disabilities and outlines a research agenda in clinical and health services for this population in these study areas.


The processes by which sound records are preserved have become a hot topic in Library and Information Science (LIS) circles in recent years, as both technological shifts and cultural concern for preservation have drawn attention to how little of the nation's sound and music files remain for future use and access. While much of the literature has focused on higher level concerns such as advocating for sound preservation and what practices should be applied, less has been written regarding the practical skillsets LIS professionals will need in creating and curating such collections. To begin looking at this question, this paper explores the subculture of science-fiction-and-fantasy-related folk music known as "filk," and the challenges which that community has faced in preserving its music.
This paper is divided into four parts. Part I offers a brief review of the current state of sound preservation in the United States, along with the challenges being faced by sound preservationists and archivists, followed by an overview of filk and its subculture in Part II. Part III then discusses several attempts at such preservation by the community itself, and offers comparisons with similar community attempts at creating "amateur archives." Finally, Part IV concludes by revisiting Part I and discussing what the attempts at preserving filk reveal about the skills that LIS professionals will need in attempting future sound preservations.


This book was first published in 1985. For those working in molecular biology, this book describes techniques in plant genetic research and the practical application of genetic engineering to important crop plants such as the potato. The various chapters detail methods used for the genetic modification of plants, including protoplast fusion and the use of Agrobacterium and viruses as vectors for plant genes. The types of agricultural and industrial processes that will be improved by these technologies are indicated throughout the book. The contributors to this volume have prepared a comprehensive and pertinent bibliography that is a key to the literature. Their scientific reports will enlighten advanced students, research workers and technicians in botany, biochemistry and biotechnology. All scientists in plant molecular biology, genetics, biochemistry and agriculture should find this book a valuable aid in their understanding of current techniques, principles and applications in plant genetic engineering.


Smooth muscle fibers are considered very important in penile erection and relaxation. The reduction of intracavernosus smooth muscle fibers can provoke impotence. The percentage of smooth muscle fibers in corpus cavernosum specimens was studied quantitatively in normal men and impotence patients by means of computerized image analysis. The percentage of smooth muscle fibers in the specimens of 14 normal men, ranged from 41% to 61% (average 50%) and in 12 impotence patients, it was 22% to 46% (average 31%). A decrease of smooth muscle fibers and an increase of collagen fibers were noted in impotence patients.


Many researchers have concluded that end-rounded toothbrush bristles reduce the potential of soft tissue trauma. Toothbrushes with a rippled-bristle pattern have been shown to more effectively remove dental plaque from interproximal surfaces than flat-trimmed toothbrushes. Unfortunately, many attempts to utilize rippled-bristle toothbrushes are fraught with difficulty due to poor end-rounding of these bristles in the traditional manufacturing process. In this study, the proportion of acceptably end-rounded bristles has been compared for a rippled bristle design toothbrush (Crest Complete), a traditional flat-trimmed brush (Colgate Plus), a bi-level brush (Reach), and a domeshaped brush (Butler G.U.M. 411). Toothbrush bristles were examined using a stereomicroscope by a grader blind to brush type, and bristle end-rounding was evaluated based on the Silverstone and Featherstone scale used previously in the literature. The results were tabulated for the percent of bristles with acceptable grades, summed, and averaged for five random bristles per tuft, five random tufts per brush, for 30 brushes of each type. Bristles in the Crest Complete toothbrush demonstrated 96.5% acceptable end-rounding. These results were significantly different (p = 0.0001) from those found in the other brushes tested: 34.3% (Reach), 16.1% (Colgate Plus), and 14.0% (Butler G.U.M.) acceptable end-rounding was observed. These results demonstrate that the newly designed rippled-bristle brush (Crest Complete) exhibits excellent bristle end-rounding.


This study investigates the predictability of social interaction and academic interaction to academic perfonnance. Descriptive analysis, multiple regression analysis, factor analysis and correlation analysis of data provided by 71 students who are Vietnamese Government Scholarship Recipients in graduate programs all over the United States indicate that socio-academic interaction can be used as predictors of students' academic performance but only 15% of the predicted variance is explained by the model. The length of students' US sojourn has effect on both social and academic interaction and degree sought by students has effect on academic interaction. Gender and length of exposure to English before coming to the states have no effect on either social interaction or academic interaction while students' English proficiency is only related to their social interaction. The extent that a student exposes to the American culture and people is related to his or her social interaction and the level of institutional and human support received the students is also related to their degree of academic interaction. Aspects of cultural, social, political and educational differences together with factors of identities and some other objective obstacles ( e.g. program size, location, students' personality and motivation) are believed to block students' efforts in engaging more in social and academic interactions and relations. The findings are used to discuss practical implications for education stakeholders at both sides.


It is widely acknowledged that effective strategy implementation, as one of the most crucial stages of the strategy making process, leads to better organizational performance. In particular, the literature indicates that implementation style is essential for directing strategies towards good organizational outcomes. For public sector organizations, there is a common belief that the implementation of strategies mostly fails in practice. However, there is still very little research addressing whether implementation style is related to better public service outcomes. This study explores the relationships between rational and incremental strategy implementation styles and the performance of public sector organizations. In addition, it investigates the effects of organizational culture, another important organizational characteristics seen as an effective tool for enhancing performance. While there are numerous studies in the literature investigating the relationship between organizational culture and performance in both the private and the public sector, most of this research investigates the direct effects of culture. Here, I examine the separate and combined effects of strategy implementation style and organizational culture on performance by applying the Competing Values Framework, a comprehensive typology which includes four types of culture together with specific organizational effectiveness criteria. By doing so, the current research is intended to contribute to the literatures on strategy implementation, organizational culture and performance. Contextually, the relationships were examined in Turkish local government organizations, specifically in metropolitan municipalities – large multi-purpose public organizations serving many citizens. The study therefore contributes new evidence on public sector strategic management in a non-Western environment.
A mixed method research design is applied using 134 survey responses and 16 semi-structured interviews. Survey data, as the main quantitative component of the study, were analysed using multiple and robust moderated regression models. Qualitative data collection was then undertaken to clarify the relationships uncovered by the quantitative data analysis. The study results confirmed the presence of a significant positive relationship between rational strategy implementation and organizational performance. In regards to organizational culture types, only the hierarchy culture showed a consistently positive influence on performance. Nevertheless, a rational strategy implementation style appeared to strengthen the effects of a hierarchical and a market-based culture on performance, while an incremental strategy implementation style seemed to enhance the effects of a clan-oriented culture and an adhocracy culture on performance. Qualitative data analysis largely supports the quantitative findings on the independent and moderating effects of strategy implementation style and organizational performance. However, it also identified some positive performance effects from a hierarchy culture, a market-based culture, a clan culture and an adhocracy culture. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed in the conclusion.


Turkey has had significant improvements in her economy over the last decades. Although, Turkey's air quality constantly improves every year, air pollution problem still continues in Turkey. Descriptive statistics was carried out for the three years hourly average of PM10, SO2, NO2 and O3 concentrations of 16 metropolitan cities in Turkey. The frequency distribution of daily average PM10 concentration of all cities occurs within 59% at 20–60 µgm -3 range. Daily average SO 2 concentration is about 84% below 20µgm -3 . The study also indicated that 44% of NO 2 and 59% of O 3 were below the levels of 45 µgm -3 and 30 µgm -3 , respectively. The result of this study is expected to benefit the legislators, scientists and government personnel about controlling and reducing emissions by developing a long-term air quality management strategy and create more public awareness for the prevention of consumption.


In order to improve electric efficiency of solar cell arrays and obtain available heat energy, the solar trough concentration photovoltaic/thermal system has been constructed and the experiment performance and analysis of solar cell arrays have been carried out. The results show that in concentration the thermal efficiency of system linearly decreases with the temperature of cell arrays increasing. In non-concentration, the maximum power output (Pm) temperature coefficients of single crystalline silicon solar cell, polycrystalline silicon cell array and super cell array are -0.2 W/(m2·°C), -0.15 W/(m2·°C) and -0.16 W/(m2·°C), respectively. In concentration, the Pm temperature coefficients are -11.8 W/(m2·°C), -5.9 W/(m2·°C) and -5.1 W/(m2·°C).


Summary
The quantitative susceptibility of native and standard laboratory rodents to infection with Rickettsia rickettsii was determined using the development of spotted fever group complement-fixing (CF) antibody as the criterion for determining infection. Most species of rodents were moderately to highly susceptible to infection, while two species appeared to be comparatively resistant to infection.
The development and persistence of rickettsemia in inoculated rodents was investigated. In most rodents a rickettsemia developed within two days and persisted for up to 16 days after the inoculation of R. rickettsii. The correlation of susceptibility as determined by CF antibody response with susceptibility observed by the development and persistence of rickettsemia was discussed. Of the many species of rodents tested, only one, the bushy-tailed wood rat, appeared to be highly resistant to infection as determined by the methods used.
In eight species of rodents tested there was no tendency to develop a latent infection as all rodents had cleared the rickettsiae from their tissues by the fourth week after inoculation of R. rickettsii, as determined by the method employed.
The development and persistence of spotted fever group CF antibody was observed in seven species of rodents. Peak titers occurred during the 2nd to 4th week after inoculation and low levels were detectable in most animals several months after inoculation.


With their excellent high temperature mechanical, chemical and thermal properties,
fibre reinforced ceramic matrix composites have emerged as an important class of materials
having a wide range of applications in various technological fields. Microwave Enhanced
Chemical Vapour Infiltration (MECVI) has been recognized as a new process route because of
its ability to conserve the reliability and durability of the precursor materials. The primary
advantage of using microwaves is that they cause an inverse temperature profile to be formed
that prevents entrapment of accessible porosity and greatly accelerates the process. However,
to develop the MECVI process further, a complete understanding of the effects of the process
parameters on the infiltration mechanism and processing time is necessary. Modelling efforts
can offer an insight into the critical factors in this process and suggest ways to optimize
processing.
A 2-D mathematical model investigating the densification of SiCf/SiC composites by
microwave enhanced Chemical Vapour Infiltration (CVI) under forced-flow of the gaseous
reactants is presented. [Continues.]


For most of human existence and in most societies, women have been considered to be property and subject to men. Throughout history, with such notable exceptions as Queen Boadicea, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Elizabeth I of England, and Catherine the Great of Russia, women had little or no power until early in the 20th century when the women's suffrage movement was successful in the United States and in some European countries. As women have gained political rights, groups of women have sought sexual and reproductive rights, as exemplified by the feminist movement of the past few decades in the United States. Although marked strides toward achievement of reproductive choice have been taken in high-income countries, there remain major strictures to reproductive freedom for women in low-income countries. This area, which is replete with ethical and moral issues, has been addressed by the International Planned Parenthood Foundation (IPPF), which has worked to improve the sexual and reproductive health of women throughout the world. The IPPF Charter on Sexual and Reproductive Rights is a paradigm for both women's rights and human rights. Karen Newman is policy adviser with the IPPF and has codrafted the IPPF Charter on Sexual and Reproductive Rights together with two lawyers. She has held several positions within the IPPF, including medical researcher, press officer, and programme adviser in Europe, where she had responsibility for working with new family planning associations (FPAs) in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. At present, she is working to increase the capacity of IPPF member FPAs to undertake human rights-based advocacy for sexual and reproductive health and rights. Judith F. Helzner is director of Sexual and Reproductive Health at International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region, Inc., where she has worked since 1987. She holds M.A. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania in International Relations and Demography. Her previous employment includes the Pathfinder Fund and the International Women's Health Coalition.


Although the use of both drones and LiDAR (light detection and ranging) has become common in archaeology in recent years, LiDAR scanning from drones is still in its infancy. The technological development related to drones as well as laser scanner instruments has gradually reached the point where these can be integrated. In this paper we present the results from a test where the applicability of LiDAR used from a drone was studied. The study had two objectives – both based on comparative studies: (i) whether LiDAR from drones represents an improvement in terms of detection success; and (ii) whether LiDAR from drones can increase the quality of the documentation of archaeological features and their physical properties based on remote sensing. A modest improvement of detection success was found, but was not as convincing as one would perhaps expect given the relatively large increase in terms of ground points. This has led us to the conclusion that very dense vegetation obstructs laser beams from reaching all the way to the bare earth. As regards accuracy in documenting archaeological features, the study showed more significant improvements. The last part of the paper is dedicated to a discussion of the pros and cons of using LiDAR from drones compared to conventional airborne laser scanning from aeroplanes or helicopters. The main advantages concern flexibility, low flight altitude and small laser footprint as well as the advantages of a far‐reaching field of view. The disadvantages are related to price, battery capacity, size of area and especially the requirement of line of sight between the drone operator and the drone, a fact that restricts the efficiency in terms of mapping large areas. Nevertheless, the final conclusion is that LiDAR from drones has the potential to make a substantial improvement to archaeological remote sensing.


Successful language use requires the ability to process nonadjacent dependencies (NADs) that occur in linguistic input. Learning such structural regularities seems This study was part of the project Examining the Contribution of Procedural Memory to Grammar and Literacy awarded by the Dutch National Research Organisation to Prof. Judith Rispens. We extend our gratitude to all children who participated and to their parents, teachers, and speech therapists who facilitated the children's participation. More specifically, we would like to thank ViertaalspecialeducationinAlmere,Amsterdam,Purmerend,andSchagen;TheRoyalDutchAuris Group in Breda, Haarlem, Leiden, and Tilburg; The Royal Dutch Kentalis in Nijmegen; Pento in Amersfoort, and stichting Hoormij (Dutch parents' association for parents of children with DLD) for their help in the recruitment of children with DLD. Also, we would like to thank the four primary schools (Binnenmeer, 'T Blokhuus, Startnest, and Wheermolen) that participated. Finally, we thank Iris Broedelet, Sascha Couvee, Darlene Keydeniers, Maartje Hoekstra (test assistants), DirkJanVet(technicalimplementationoftheexperiment),andMerelvanWitteloostuijn(extensive help with the design of the experiment). All materials, and analysis for this are materials are also publicly available the IRIS database Learn more about the Open Practices badges the for therefore crucial for children, and researchers have indeed proposed that language problems in children with developmental language disorder (DLD), especially problems with grammar, are due to their decreased sensitivity to NADs. Because the evidence supporting this claim is scarce, we compared children with DLD ( n = 36; M age = 9.1 years) and without DLD ( n = 36; M age = 9.1 years) performing a learning task with NADs. Using response times as an online measure of learning NADs, we observed that participants with DLD were less sensitive to NADs than were typically developing peers. The confidence intervals of the effect, however, indicated that the effect was probably small in size. We discuss clinical and theoretical implications of the present study in light of this effect size.


Migratory animals (such as waterfowl, fish, whales, and seals) and large land animals (such as deer, elephant, bear, and cattle) that were hunted for food by aboriginal peoples may be struck, but not killed, by projectile weapons which remain imbedded in the body. Individuals which survive may be killed elsewhere, and the projectile weapon tips may be recovered. Numerous instances are cited. Such exotic artifacts can be mistakenly attributed to cultural contact between distant human groups unless archeologists are aware of this special kind of diffusion process.


Successful operation of the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, beginning in September 1997 (Ls = 184°), has permitted extensive observations over more than a Martian year. Initially, thin (normal optical depth <0.06 at 825 cm−1) ice clouds and hazes were widespread, showing a distinct latitudinal gradient. With the onset of a regional dust storm at Ls = 224°, ice clouds vanished in the southern hemisphere, to reappear gradually after the decay of the storm. The zonally averaged cloud opacities show little difference between the beginning and end of the first Martian year. A broad low-latitude cloud belt with considerable longitudinal structure was present in early northern summer. Apparently characteristic of the northern summer season, it vanished between Ls = 140° and 150°. The latitudinal extent of this feature is apparently controlled by the ascending branch of the Hadley circulation. The most opaque clouds (optical depth ∼0.6) were found above the summits of major volcanic features; these showed spatial structure possibly associated with wave activity. Variety among low-lying late morning clouds suggests localized differences in circulation and microclimates. Limb observations showed extensive optically thin (optical depth <0.04) stratiform clouds at altitudes up to 55 km. Considerable latitude and altitude variations were evident in ice clouds in early northern spring (Ls = 25°); near 30 km, thin clouds extended from just north of the equator to ∼45°N, nearly to the north polar vortex. A water ice haze was present in the north polar night (Ls = 30°) at altitudes up to 40 km. Because little dust was present this probably provided heterogeneous nucleation sites for the formation of CO2 clouds and snowfall at altitudes below ∼20 km, where atmospheric temperatures dropped to the CO2 condensation point. The relatively invariant spectral shape of the water ice cloud feature over space and time indicates that ice particle radii are generally between 1 and 4 μm.


Catalyzed reporter deposition fluorescence in situ hybridization (CARD-FISH) is a powerful method with a growing number of applications in the quantitative evaluation of microbial populations of complex ecosystems. CARD-FISH is an improvement over traditional fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) especially suitable for aquatic habitats with small, slow growing, or starving bacteria, in which the signal intensities of hybridized cells is frequently below detection limits or lost in high fluorescence background of dense mineral matrixes. In this work we report the development of protocols and probes for the identification and quantification of the microorganisms involved in the continuous bioleaching of a cobaltiferrous concentrate using a four tank-leaching reactor operated by BRGM. After steady state was reached, samples were taken to identify and quantify the microorganisms present in the each of the tanks used in the process.


Electrophoretic deposition (EPD) has been demonstrated to be a convenient processing technique to fabricate composite ceramic coatings containing ordered arrays of carbon nanotubes. In this investigation, EPD was used to coat Ti6Al4V medical implants with hydroxyapatite (HA) layers reinforced with surface functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The functionalization of MWCNTs by treating them with an acid mixture was successfully achieved in order to create functional groups on the MWCNT surfaces enabling them to be homogeneously dispersed in water. The surface treatment was also used to induce the adsorption of HA nanoparticles on MWCNT surfaces. Some critical issues, such as microcracking and peeling of HA layers after EPD, were effectively solved by the use of MWCNTs.


Significance People's capacity to generate creative ideas is central to technological and cultural progress. Despite advances in the neuroscience of creativity, the field lacks clarity on whether a specific neural architecture distinguishes the highly creative brain. Using methods in network neuroscience, we modeled individual creative thinking ability as a function of variation in whole-brain functional connectivity. We identified a brain network associated with creative ability comprised of regions within default, salience, and executive systems—neural circuits that often work in opposition. Across four independent datasets, we show that a person's capacity to generate original ideas can be reliably predicted from the strength of functional connectivity within this network, indicating that creative thinking ability is characterized by a distinct brain connectivity profile. People's ability to think creatively is a primary means of technological and cultural progress, yet the neural architecture of the highly creative brain remains largely undefined. Here, we employed a recently developed method in functional brain imaging analysis—connectome-based predictive modeling—to identify a brain network associated with high-creative ability, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data acquired from 163 participants engaged in a classic divergent thinking task. At the behavioral level, we found a strong correlation between creative thinking ability and self-reported creative behavior and accomplishment in the arts and sciences (r = 0.54). At the neural level, we found a pattern of functional brain connectivity related to high-creative thinking ability consisting of frontal and parietal regions within default, salience, and executive brain systems. In a leave-one-out cross-validation analysis, we show that this neural model can reliably predict the creative quality of ideas generated by novel participants within the sample. Furthermore, in a series of external validation analyses using data from two independent task fMRI samples and a large task-free resting-state fMRI sample, we demonstrate robust prediction of individual creative thinking ability from the same pattern of brain connectivity. The findings thus reveal a whole-brain network associated with high-creative ability comprised of cortical hubs within default, salience, and executive systems—intrinsic functional networks that tend to work in opposition—suggesting that highly creative people are characterized by the ability to simultaneously engage these large-scale brain networks.


BACKGROUND
Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor (GLP-1R) is an important biomarker for diagnosis and therapy of the endocrine cancers due to overexpression. Recently, in human prostate cancer cell lines the receptor was also observed, therefore it may be a potential target for the disease. 18F-Al-NOTA-MAL-Cys39-exendin-4 holds great promise for GLP-1R. Therefore, the feasibility of the 18F-labeled exendin-4 analog for prostate cancer imaging was investigated; 2) Methods: New probe 18F-Al-NOTA-MAL-Cys39-exendin-4 was made through one-step notation, quality controlled and stability in vitro analyzed. Prostate cancer PC3 cell xenograft model mice were established to primarily evaluated the imaging properties of the tracer via in vivo small animal PET studies. Pathological studies and Western Blots were also performed; 4) Results: PC-3 prostate xenografts were clearly imaged under baseline conditions. At 30 and 60 min postinjection, the tumor uptakes were 2.90±0.41%ID/g and 2.26±0.32 %ID/g respectively. The presence of cys39-exendin-4 significantly reduced the tumor uptake to 0.82±0.10 %ID/g at 60 min p.i. Findings of ex vivo biodistribution studies were similar to those of in vivo PET imaging. The tumors to blood and muscles were improved significantly with the increase of time due to rapid clearance of the tracer from normal organs. Blockings were displayed in the GLP-1R positive tumor and normal organs after coinjection of excessive unlabeled peptides with the tracer. Immunohistochemistry and Western Blots results confirmed that GLP-1R was widely expressed in PC-3 prostate xenografts and PC-3 cells; 5) Conclusions: 18F-Al labeled exendin-4 analog might be a promising tracer for in vivo detecting GLP-1R positive prostate cancer with the advantage of facile synthesis and favorable pharmacokinetics. It may be useful in differential diagnosis, molecularly targeted therapy and prognosis of the cancers.


PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES
To assess oncology nurses' attitudes toward prognosis-related communication and experiences of the quality of such communication among physicians.

DESIGN
Cross-sectional study.

SETTING
Nationwide survey in the United States.

SAMPLE
394 Oncology Nursing Society members who completed surveys.

METHODS
Pilot mailed survey.

MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES
Demographic variables, measures of attitudes toward and experiences of prognosis-related communication.

FINDINGS
Nurses had mixed views of prognosis-related communication and identified common barriers to their own more effective participation in prognosis-related communication. Nurses with more experience and those who worked in inpatient settings were more likely to be present for physicians' prognosis-related communication with patients.

CONCLUSIONS
Respondents identified uncertainties regarding the scope of oncology nurses' role in prognosis-related communication. Respondents also identified opportunities for improved interdisciplinary communication, most importantly the inclusion of oncology nurses in prognosis-related communication.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING
Opportunities for oncology nurses to bridge some gaps in prognosis-related communication likely exist, although barriers surrounding nurses' role, education, and communication within the context of the larger healthcare team need to be clarified if potential solutions are to be developed.


Climate change is a significant concern impacting food security, agricultural reform, disease transmission, and disruption to human, plant, and animal ecosystems, along with a host of additional consequences, ultimately affecting the quality of life and the livelihoods of the global population. African-based research aims to better understand the impact of climate change on nature and on different aspects of humanity, as well as improve forecasting for greater economic potential. However, researchers often encounter various challenges and obstacles. Here, we conducted a bibliographic analysis and interpretation of relevant climate change peer-reviewed research articles related to the African continent. From this analysis, challenges associated with climate change modelling in Africa were identified. Primarily, the lack of an extensive observational network and technological limitations hinder modelling efforts. Additionally, an apparent pull of scientists away from African institutions to institutions further afield was observed. Novel solutions to these challenges are proffered. Finally, we highlight how the German Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) Climate Research for Alumni and Postdocs in Africa (climapAfrica) program is contributing towards resolving these challenges.


We investigate the pairing in iron pnictides in the coexistence phase, which displays both superconducting and antiferromagnetic orders. By solving the pairing problem on the Fermi surface reconstructed by long-range magnetic order, we find that the pairing interaction necessarily becomes angle dependent, even if it was isotropic in the paramagnetic phase, which results in an angular variation of the superconducting gap along the Fermi surfaces. We find that the gap has no nodes for a small antiferromagnetic order parameter $M$, but may develop accidental nodes for intermediate values of $M$, when one pair of the reconstructed Fermi surface pockets disappears. For even larger $M$, when the other pair of reconstructed Fermi pockets is gapped by long-range magnetic order, superconductivity still exists, but the quasiparticle spectrum becomes nodeless again. We also show that the application of an external magnetic field facilitates the formation of nodes. We argue that this mechanism for a nodeless-nodal-nodeless transition explains recent thermal conductivity measurements of hole-doped (Ba${}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}$K${}_{x}$)Fe${}_{2}$As${}_{2}$ [J-Ph. Read et al., e-print arXiv:1105.2232].


As sociologists of sport involved in teaching and researching the broad area of theemergence and development of modern sport we have been captivated by therecently reinvigorated debate in the International Review for the Sociology ofSport (IRSS) concerning the place of violence-reduction in the socio-genesis ofsports. In this brief review of the debate between Dominic Malcolm and RuudStokvis — and, by extension, that between figurational sociologists of sport anda figurational sympathizer — we present a selective summary and critique of thelatest phase in a lively and productive discussion regarding the emergence anddevelopment of modern sporting forms. We do so in the belief that stimulatingthis kind of dialogue in the IRSS is not only worthwhile in itself, but also holdsout the promise of making a significant contribution to our understanding of thedevelopment of modern sport in the form of a refinement of existing explanations.Before addressing the core of the debate between Stokvis and Malcolmand, a decade earlier, Stokvis (1992) and Elias and Dunning (1986), we providea short summary of their respective positions.


An electronic still camera comprising a lens, shutter, and exposure control system, a focus and range control circuit, a solid state imaging device incorporating a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) through which an image is focused, a digital control unit through which timing and control of an image for electronic processing is accomplished, an Analog-to-Digital (A/D) converter circuit to convert the analog picture signals into their digital equivalents, a pixel buffer for collecting a complete row of an image's digital equivalent, a frame buffer for collecting all rows of an image's digital equivalent, and a selectively adjustable digital image compression and decompression algorithm that compresses the size of a digital image and selectively formats the compressed digital image to a compatible format for either the IBM Personal Computer and related architectures or the Apple Macintosh PC architecture as selected by the operator so that the digital image can be directly read into most word processing, desktop publishing, and data base software packages including means for executing the appropriate selected decompression algorithm; and a memory input/output interface that provides both temporary storage of the digital image and controls the transmission and interface with a standard Personal Computer (PC) memory storage device such as a digital diskette. The digital diskette is removably inserted into the housing of the camera prior to use in recording digital image data.


The United States drug overdose epidemic has reached an all-time high, with 2020 provisional mortality data indicating that over 90,000 lives were lost to drug overdose in the 12-months ending in December 2020. The overdose epidemic has evolved over time with respect to the substances involved in overdose deaths and also with respect to the geographic distribution and epidemiology of deaths involving specific substances. Thus, a nimble approach to addressing the epidemic and preventing future overdoses is needed. CDC's response to the overdose epidemic supports implementation efforts at the state and local levels, where partners can better detect and respond to the evolving drug overdose landscape and implement prevention measures that meet their needs. CDC's framework for responding to the overdose epidemic focuses on five areas: (1) conducting surveillance and research; (2) building state, local and tribal capacity; (3) supporting providers, health systems and payers; (4) partnering with public safety; and (5) empowering consumers to make safe choices. Central to informing the implementation of evidence-based strategies to prevent drug overdose is rigorous research that undergirds the evidence. This Commentary describes recent investments in overdose prevention research and outlines opportunities for ensuring that future research efforts allow for the flexibility necessary to effectively respond to the continually evolving epidemic.


Building Information Modeling (BIM) is often associated with the use of new and emerging technologies, but prior research has indicated that non-technological, people- and process-related, issues can hinder the success of BIM even more than the technology itself. Previous work also suggests that analytical and problem-solving, communication, initiative, planning and organizational, and teamwork competencies among construction professionals can help to resolve the most common BIM issues in construction projects. This indicates a new and complementary set of BIM skills that may need to be targeted by educators when preparing students for successful future careers. Previous literature from non-BIM domains suggests that problem-based learning can enhance these types of skills, but there is not an understanding of the extent to which this mode of education can benefit BIM-specific applications. This study aims to analyze the impact of implementing a single-session problem-based learning module that targets the previously identified skills in BIM-relevant contexts. It was found that problem-based learning enabled students to generate better outputs related to solving common issues in BIM-based construction projects. Furthermore, students perceived improvements in their analytical and problem-solving, teamwork, and communications skills after completing the activity. This study adds to the body of knowledge by providing educators with empirical evidence to illustrate how problem-based learning can support BIM education. The lessons from this study could help educators target these same learning benefits in future studies.


Objective. We aimed at characterizing, in non-invasive human brain recordings, the large-scale, coordinated activation of distant brain regions thought to occur during conscious perception. This process is termed ignition in the Global Workspace Theory, and integration in Integrated Information Theory, which are two of the major theories of consciousness. Approach. Here, we provide evidence for this process in humans by combining a magnetically-induced phosphene perception task with electroencephalography. Functional cortical networks were identified and characterized using graph theory to quantify the impact of conscious perception on local (segregation) and distant (integration) processing. Main results. Conscious phosphene perception activated frequency-specific networks, each associated with a specific spatial scale of information processing. Integration increased within an alpha-band functional network, while changes in segregation occurred in the beta band. Significance. These results bring novel evidence for the functional role of distinct brain oscillations and confirm the key role of integration processes for conscious perception in humans.


On October 16th 1946 Dr J. Th. Henrard will have reached the pensionable age of sixty five years. In accordance with the legal prescriptions he is due to take leave officially as keeper of the "Rijksherbarium". The present director, Prof. Dr H. J. Lam, invited me to write a short biography of Dr Henrard on this occasion. Having been Henrard's eldest colleague till 1934 at the institution, I accepted willingly. Jan Theodoor Henrard was born October 16th, 1881 at Maastricht, where his father, J. B. Henrard, was director of the Weight and Measures Office. There is a legend in the family that the Henrards originated from the Vendee (in France) as descendants of a Huguenot-refugee. Owing to this duties J. B. Henrard was often transferred with his family from one locality to the other; his children got their education in different towns of the country. Jan visited the elementary school at Maastricht. The secundary school he followed at Zwolle and Leeuwarden respectively. At Zwolle he made the acquaintance of two well-known Dutch florists, Lako, a teacher at the secundary school and Carmiggelt, an official at his fathers office. From them Jan gathered already an extensive knowledge of the Dutch flora. His final high school certificate he got at Sneek on August 10th, 1901 (Diploma H. B. S.).


Ageing is the biggest risk factor for impaired cardiovascular health, cardiovascular disease being the leading cause of death in 40% of individuals over 65 years old. Ageing is associated not only with an increased prevalence of cardiovascular disease but also with a poorer prognosis, including increased mortality or incidence of heart failure after myocardial infarction (MI). We have demonstrated that aged (23 month old) mice have an accumulation of cardiomyocyte senescence, reduced regenerative potential and display increased mortality as well as impaired recovery following MI. Cellular senescence is defined not only by the irreversible loss of division potential but also by the production of a senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). This cocktail of pro-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, matrix proteases and growth factors can impact on tissue function, inducing fibrosis, extracellular matrix degeneration and driving inflammation. We have therefore begun to test if clearance of senescent cardiomyocytes, using the senolytic compound Navitoclax, has the potential to improve cardiac health and post MI outcomes in aged animals. Following treatment with Navitoclax, but prior to MI, aged mice demonstrated a reduction in senescent cardiomyocytes which was associated increased cardiomyocyte generation, a decline in myocardial hypertrophy and a decrease in fibrosis. Following MI, Navitoclax treated mice displayed a tendency towards improved survival and had a significant improvement in cardiac function when compared to vehicle controls. We conclude that clearance of senescent cells is a potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment of age related cardiac dysfunction.


Japan's Great Recession was the result of a series of macroeconomic and financial policy mistakes. Thus, it was largely avoidable once the initial shock from the bubble bursting had passed. The aberration in Japan's recession was not the behaviour of growth, which is best seen as a series of recoveries aborted by policy errors. Rather, the surprise was the persistent steadiness of limited deflation, even after recovery took place. This is a more fundamental challenge to our basic macroeconomic understanding than is commonly recognized. The UK and US economies are at low risk of having recurrent recessions through macroeconomic policy mistakes—but deflation itself cannot be ruled out. The United Kingdom worryingly combines a couple of financial parallels to Japan with far less room for fiscal action to compensate for them than Japan had. Also, Japan did not face poor prospects for external demand and the need to reallocate productive resources across export sectors during its Great Recession. Many economies do now face this challenge simultaneously, which may limit the pace of, and their share in, the global recovery.


I have tried to trace a recurring theme in Simone Weil's thought: I have not tried to make an appraisal of her theology as a whole. She was trained as a philosopher but her work transcends the conventional boundaries between disciplines. She was widely read and wrote with authority on history, education, politics and comparative religion as well as philosophy, and in herpersonal faith and consequently her theology she drew extensively on this formidable cultural and intellectual background. As aasresult her theological writings are complex but they are also very much of a piece I have been able to follow in them the theme of the fraudulence of personality. Simone Weil is deeply pessimitic about human nature and speaks of its gravitational force which only divine grace can reverse. This process she pictures as the takeover of the soul by Christ at the expense of the individual's personality which in itself can never offer the key to the attainment of virtue. She believes virtue to be very close to obedience, which we achieve through the exercise of attention. I have tried to explore the strong similarity which exists between this position and some aspects of the moral philosophy of Iris Murdoch who is also a pessimist about human nature. She too believes in an absolute good which we can only know by breaking down the barrier of self. I have used Dorothy Emmet, Elizabeth Anscombe and Mary Midgley as commentators on the state of British moral philosophy as deplored by Iris Murdoch, and Mary Midgley has provided me with a picture of personality which I think is more realistic than that of Simone Weil and Iris Murdoch because it admits virtue as an actual quality not a mere ideal.